§ Mr. Soamesasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what is the cost of training an Army helicopter pilot;
315W(2) what is the cost of training a Royal Air Force helicopter pilot.
§ Mr. Lee[pursuant to his reply, 3 March 1986 c. 71]: Helicopter pilots are trained in each of the three services for different operational requirements, and therefore straightforward financial comparisons could be misleading.
Further, all RAF pilots are initially trained with a view to fast jet service and only join the helicopter or multi-engine stream at a later stage.
However, the costs of training a helicopter pilot in the RAF and Army are estimated to be £940,000 and £200,000, respectively.